China is on track to surpass all other nations in manufacturing technology, including current leader, the US, according to a US academic study. While China still lags behind more developed nations in several key areas, the writing is on the wall for the rest of the world, say the study's authors. "It's like being 40 years old and playing basketball against a competitor who's only 12 years old – but is already at your height," said Nils Newman, a co-author of the US National Science Foundation-supported research.

"You are a little better right now and have more experience, but you're not going to squeeze much more performance out. The future clearly doesn't look good for the United States." The research was conducted for the NSF by the Georgia Institute of Technology. The researchers tracked a number of key indicators in a broad range of fields including scientific and engineering training, research, and manufacturing.